


Buckles and Straps

by Antipode



Series: I Was Lost Without You [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Romance, Biotic Shepard (Mass Effect), Custom Shepard (Mass Effect), Eventual Romance, F/F, Lesbians in Space, No Lesbians Die, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Paragon Shepard (Mass Effect), Romance, Slow Romance, Spacer (Mass Effect), Vanguard (Mass Effect), War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antipode/pseuds/Antipode
Summary: "It took all her self-control to not visibly preen at the attention. That self-control was very nearly not enough, as a plated gorget closed in around her throat, as she felt those fingers dance about the base of her neck, gently brushing the incredibly sensitive bundle of nerves that swept upward to her crest. Shepard's hands on her spine as she pulled the final straps to secure her breastplate very nearly sent her over the edge."Liara is selected to join Commander Shepard and Gunnery Chief Williams on her first-ever ground mission, shortly after joining the crew of the Normandy. Her feelings for her new Commander are thrown into further confusion when Shepard helps her into her armor. Liara's POV.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Series: I Was Lost Without You [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937521
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	1. One

"Captain on deck!"

Navigator Pressley's voice was a whip-crack as the Commander walked briskly into the ready-room, accompanied by the immediate clatter of chairs as the human marines snapped to attention. Pressley, Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams stood ramrod-straight, chins up and eyes forward. Of the Normandy's non-human crew, only the turian, Garrus, bothered to rise - Tali'Zorah the quarian fidgeted nervously in her seat, and the hulking krogan form of Wrex sprawled out over two chairs, largely indifferent to this formal briefing. Liara T'Soni, not a soldier by any definition, shared a confused look with Tali as she weighed between sitting and standing.

"As you were," Commander Shepard barely looked up from her data-pad, her voice nonetheless curt and authoritative.

Trying hard not to stare, Liara studied her human savior, her fascination with the Commander undimmed even in the days since the rescue mission on Therum. She was tall for a human female, standing eye to eye with Alenko and towering over the shorter, stockier Williams. Even in her officer's uniform she looked like she was carved out of wood, her frame packed with an athlete's lean, defined musculature. Her fur - _hair_ , she corrected herself mentally - was long, jet-black, and tied into a rather severe bun atop her head. Her facial structure was very angular, almost aristocratic, with high cheekbones and a prominent nose that looked to have been broken frequently. The color of her striking, emerald-green hawkish eyes complimented her honey-colored skin. There was a small pinprick of a birthmark under her lip that she'd noticed when the Commander had caught her as she fell out of the levitating grasp of the Prothean security curtain, when she'd been nearly nose to nose with the Commander, when she'd been swept up and held by those strong, supple arms…

It took every ounce of willpower Liara had to suppress the growing blush creeping up the collar of her lab coat collar when she realized where her train of thought was taking her.

"... I'll be taking a strike team planetside," Shepard was saying, still reading from her data-slate. Liara peeked around the room to see if anyone else had noticed her blatantly staring at Commander Shepard. Nobody had spared the maiden a first glance, let alone a second: Tali was staring at a readout on her omni-tool, Pressley, Alenko and Williams were looking at the Commander, Garrus was looking at a fraying sleeve on his fatigues, Wrex appeared to be half-asleep. _Of course they aren’t looking at you_ , she thought with a touch of bitterness. _Half don’t trust you, and the other half barely acknowledge you. All except…_ Her mind drifted to Commander Shepard’s visits to her quarters; her gentle concerns for the asari’s well-being, their brief but intriguing conversations. She was still trying to piece together what those conversations meant, how she felt about them.

"So who's coming with you on the strike team?" Garrus spoke up, his flanged voice pitching in curiosity. Liara leaned back in her chair. The prospect of imminent danger had worried her earlier, but if this was to be a ground operation… she was no soldier. Idly she wondered if Dr. Chakwas would like any help in the med-bay, or if she’d be left to her own devices. Not all of her research notes had been lost on Therum, and she still had quite a few rubbings and pictures from Tablet 342 and 344 to analyse.

"Williams and T'Soni," she answered instantly.

Liara blinked, unsure she’d heard correctly. Seven heads swivelling in her direction told her that she had.

_Now they’re looking at you_.

And then the humans all began speaking on top of each other.

“Skipper, are you sure-” Williams blurted out.

“Ma’am, she’s-” Pressley stammered.

“But she isn’t-” Alenko managed.

Shepard allowed the three of them to interrupt and interject with each other with a feigned disinterest for a handful of seconds before raising her voice. “Chief Williams, I want all our weapons locked and loaded. Lieutenant Alenko, you have that Kodiak prepped and ready in thirty minutes. Doctor T’Soni, meet me in the ready room in ten. XO Pressley, you and Miss nar Rayya are going to go over every comms wavelength wider than two tin cans on a string. I don’t want any surprises. Everyone else is on standby.”

A round of grudging “aye aye, ma’am” and “yes, Skipper” filled the briefing room as nearly everyone stood. Liara, trembling slightly, felt frozen to her seat. _A ground mission? Why me? I’m not a soldier, there must be some kind of mistake_. She wracked her mind for something in the briefing she’d missed. _Why would Commander Shepard need a xenoarcheologist on a ground mission_?

A loud snore from the corner startled her out of her panic-induced haze. Shepard snorted and rolled her eyes. “Somebody wake up Wrex.”


	2. Two

Liara had always been one of the first at the University of Serrice to line up for her classes, and the habit died hard - she stood, nervously, outside the door to the ready room precisely five minutes earlier than asked for. Her stomach roiled, and she couldn’t stop itching the scales at the base of her neck. Inside, her nerves sang as shrill as a songbird. She could feel her hands trembling at her sides.

_You can do this. You can do this. You can do this._

She was about to reach for the door-panel when a slight cough from behind her nearly caused her to leap out of her coat.

“Sorry, sorry,” a shamefaced Lieutenant Alenko was rubbing the back of his own neck, his human face taking on a very asari-like blush as he studied his feet. “I uh, was trying not to startle you, but… I needed to get past.” He motioned to the ready room.

“Oh, I am sorry!” Liara hugged her arms to herself, awkwardly. “Are you… coming as well?”

“No, but I always see Billie- err, Commander Shepard - off when she goes. It’s uh, tradition.” The human glanced up at her, tilting his head quizzically. “First time, huh?”

“Yes,” she all but whispered. “Yes.” Louder, a second time. _Who are you trying to fool?_

“Look, you’ll do fine,” Alenko smiled. “I saw how strong your barriers were on Therum, you’re a natural. And Billie and Ash - err, Commander Shepard and Gunnery Chief Williams - are two of the best in the business. Just do everything they say, and you’ll be just fine. Better stay closer to Williams.” He chuckled, only slightly awkwardly. “Shepard likes, uh, ‘close encounters,’ if you take my meaning.”

Liara did not, but she nodded anyways, woodenly.

“Come on. They’re waiting.” He smiled pleasantly. There was something reassuring in that smile, in his big, brown eyes. Liara had seen a few of the female crew - and some of the male crew, for that matter - giving the handsome marine detail officer longing glances and suggestive smiles. The maiden didn’t quite understand the appeal, but he was, admittedly, nice to look at.

I wonder if Commander Shepard thinks so, too, she thought. And then:

_Oh_.

She thought about how Lieutenant Alenko had just called Commander Shepard ‘Billie’ just now. How him seeing her off for a mission was ‘tradition.’ How he joked about her liking ‘close encounters’ in such a familiar way.

_Oh_.

Well… what did you expect?

Her mind flailed back to her short time aboard the Normandy. She thought about being saved on Therum, first from the Prothean security bubble, then from the geth. She thought about being brought onboard, as part of this strange crew of a handful of aliens and a ship full of suspicious humans, given a space of her own. How Shepard had come to check on her every day. How Shepard had made sure she was eating, that she was sleeping. She thought about how Shepard had caught her as she fell out of the bubble, and how close their faces had been. She thought about how far she’d read into such thoughtful but ultimately perfectly simple gestures, how badly she’d hoped that the attention Shepard had been giving her had meant something more than it obviously did.

_You have nothing in common. You are two different species. You’ve known each other for a week. Grow up, Liara_.

Liara returned the smile, albeit wanly, and pressed her palm over the door panel.


	3. Three

Williams and Shepard were already inside when Liara and Alenko entered.

Gunnery Chief Williams was fully occupied by making sure a rather dizzying selection of personal firearms were in proper working order. Shepard, however…

Shepard was in her compression suit, and nothing else.

Liara’s eyes immediately dropped to the deck before her jaw could follow.

 _Get ahold of yourself_ , she thought disgustedly. _You are living up to every asari maiden stereotyp_ e.

She forced her eyes back up, forced herself once again not to stare at Shepard’s svelte, athletic physique, at the way the skin-tight compression suit lovingly hugged every line on her defined musculature, every sinuous curve. Shepard looked powerful, and beautiful, and confident; like the Huntress-Goddess, Kurinth, made flesh. A thought sprung, unbidden, to Liara’s mind: of lying next to her, of her head against Shepard’s shoulder, of running her fingers lightly down that sleek flank, breathing into the soft hollow of the Commander’s neck…

 _Stop. That_.

Her throat was suddenly very dry, and she struggled to control her pulse, her breathing. She busied herself with unbuttoning her jumpsuit and hanging up her coat. Shivering in her own compression suit, she stood awkwardly, expectantly, by the two humans.

“What are we bringing, Skipper?"

William's voice. She was still going over weapons, while Shepard was pulling armor out of three flat, grey crates; mottled white carapaces, tinged with swirls and blobs of grey and blue. _Are we to fight in the ice and snow? Does she know asari body temperatures are much lower than humans_?

"A Predator each, with suppression mods. My Lancer. For yourself?" A wicked grin crossed Shepard's face. "Take the bitch."

An identical look crossed Chief William's face as she hefted a huge, ugly shotgun that looked to have been sized for a krogan like Wrex, moreso than a human. Even the sound of racking the action seemed to radiate terror and aggression. "You know how to treat a lady, ma'am."

"You'll let me know the second you have any updates from the compound, Alenko?" _She hasn't even noticed me here_ , Liara thought with a twinge of embarrassment. _I don't even know what I'm doing here_.

"Pressley and Tali'Zorah are on it, ma’am," Kaidan folded his arms. "Everything is in hand."

"You would take me on an op in forty below," Williams was grumbling, as she bent over one of the crates Shepard had pulled out and started strapping a shinguard on. "Why can't all our missions be somewhere I can get a tan?"

Liara started suddenly as she felt something close around her ankle. She looked down, eyes widening and pulse racing as her brain struggled to comprehend the signal they were receiving.

Commander Shepard was on her knees in front of Liara, buckling the asari’s armor on.

She moved with the practiced ease of someone who had gone through these motions and movements hundreds of times. Her fingers were strong and quick and surprisingly delicate, tightening buckles and snapping fasteners, laying each new layer of rigid plate overtop the last with an incongruous tenderness. Liara stood as still as a statue, moving only when she could sense the Commander needed her to shift slightly to accommodate a new section of armor. 

"I'll see if I can convince the geth to attack a nice beach planet," Kaidan was chuckling somewhere in the background, a hundred miles away. "Somewhere that serves coconut drinks with little umbrellas."

"Aww, that'd be real sweet of you, LT." William's voice dripped with saccharine sarcasm. 

Liara snuck a glance over at the other two humans as the Commander rose, snapping place vambraces over the asari’s forearms. Both seemed casually at ease, exchanging friendly jabs. Both had obviously noticed Shepard dressing the maiden, and were either too surprised or too polite to mention it. Shepard herseld hadn't said a word; to the two of them, or to Liara. She was quite certain she was entirely purple by this point, as those long, dexterous fingers lightly glided up her thighs and hips to secure more sections of grey carapace. There was a strange intimacy to the process, an almost loving care and attention paid to the asari that she'd never been the focus of. It took all her self-control to not visibly preen at the attention. That self-control was very nearly not enough, as a plated gorget closed in around her throat, as she felt those fingers dance about the base of her neck, gently brushing the incredibly sensitive bundle of nerves that swept upward to her crest. Shepard's hands on her spine as she pulled the final straps to secure her breastplate very nearly sent her over the edge. She noticed Shepard's piercing emerald gaze had been intent on her the entire time, and that her own eyes had been locked on the Commander nearly as long. She noticed she had started to breathe much more rapidly, and blushed a deep shade of indigo.

Wordlessly, Shepard turned away from the maiden and began to buckle on her own armor.

"Atmospherics are only reading thirty below, Chief," Alenko was saying. "Practically balmy."

"I've got something 'practically balmy' for you," Williams retorted as she strapped a handful of grenades to her utility belt. They both laughed.

The Commander still hadn't spoken. She had one long, toned leg stretched out, buckling on a shinguard. Liara could still feel the effects of her lingering gaze upon her, those piercing green eyes that had peeled away every layer she had, that had seen her straight through to her core. Something unsaid but understood passed between them.

Liara, shocked at her own audacity, knelt next to Shepard and fastened the buckle on her shinguard for her. 

Their fingers brushed ever so slightly as the human held held the plates in place for the asari to tighten and snap shut. She worked much slower, much less efficiently than the human had, but with no less attention to detail; recalling with a searing clarity what pieces of armor went on where and in what order. It felt like every part of her save the hands that were doing the fastening was shaking, trembling. Not her hands, however. Her hands seemed possessed by a certainty, a confidence she couldn’t claim and didn't fully understand. Inch by inch they climbed, and Liara inwardly marveled at how taut and firm Shepard was, sleek and supple like some tawny, predatory beast. She could feel indigo blush that had no doubt entirely suffused the young asari's face creep down the back of her neck, could feel Shepard’s eyes boring straight through her as she fastened and buckled and strapped her Commander’s armor to her thighs, her hips, her arms and shoulders. Finally, she repeated the finishing steps that had nearly buckled her own knees, fastening the gorget around that long, lovely neck, brushing the fine dark hair away from the nape to tighten the straps, and securing the fasteners that ran down the gently sloping curve of the human's lower back. As the last fastener secured with a satisfying click, Liara let out a long, shuddering breath.

_Goddess… that was…_

Shepard gave each shoulder a quick, exploratory roll. Her eyes met Liara's, and the maiden could see a quiet approval in that hawkish gaze, as well as something else, something deeper, something she couldn’t quite place. The Commander nodded once in approval. Liara's heart sang. She pretended she didn't notice the looks of mild, almost scandalized amusement flickering on the faces of Alenko and Williams. For the moment, all that Liara could see was that look in Shepard's eyes.

"Alright, bring it in," the Commander finally spoke, her voice strong and smooth and reassuring. Liara felt an arm slide around her shoulder, pulling her into a huddle that both Williams and Alenko joined, all four heads nearly touching. It felt strange to have both human women linking arms with her: one that seemed to have no trust or time for her, and the other… Liara shook herself slightly. She had no idea what Shepard thought of her.

"Who's like us?" the Commander barked suddenly, startling the asari.

"Damn few!" Alenko shouted.

"And they're all dead!" Williams finished gleefully. All three humans flashed fierce smiles. The slogan was grim, but the confidence of it was infectious, and the maiden could feel a nervous smile of her own forming. She felt secure, felt safe. Felt like, willing or no, she was now a part of something, something maybe frightening and maybe dangerous but far, far more exciting than anything in her life had ever been before.

Commander Shepard looked down at her and Liara felt a thrill as those lips curled slightly in a lopsided smile, as those eyes flashed an emerald wink at her.

"What's the matter, Doctor T'Soni," she murmured, eyes sparkling, and Liara felt a strong hand clap her on the backplate. "You trying to live forever?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thirsty Liara is truly a joy to write. It always amused me how absolutely shamelessly thirsty she can get for Shepard in-game, between their dialogue in LOTSB and Citadel and even through ME1-3.


End file.
